Giving Thanks For Family, Friends, and a Hot as Hell Husband
by MkSC77
Summary: Thanksgiving 2019. Also a Tumblr prompt request for “Come sit by the fireplace with me.”


"All right, she's down." Sharon rejoined Emily and Rusty in the living room after putting Marie to bed. She was a little over a year old and had put up a fight, but Sharon had finally bounced her gently in her arms until she gave it up.

Emily gave Sharon a suspicious look. "You held her until she fell asleep, didn't you?" Emily had been adamant about not rocking her to sleep since she was a few months old, but Sharon always invoked her Gammy privilege on that one.

Sharon took a bite of her abandoned slice of pizza and sipped her wine. "I don't know _what_ you're talking about."

"Uh-huh." Emily turned her attention back to the TV and flipped through options before starting another show. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and Andy was closing a case and on his way home. They were flying to Seattle to spend the week with Sharon's family the next morning, but Emmett was traveling for work and was meeting them there later in the week. Emily was spending the night so they could go to the airport together the next morning, and she'd hijacked the TV to watch her favorite Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes, which was fine with Sharon. The shows so far had been from when Emily was a teenager, and between ballet, school, and her friends, Emily didn't have much downtime, but she always slowed down on Saturday or Sunday afternoons long enough to catch up on the TV shows she'd missed during the week that Sharon had recorded on the VCR for her. Sharon had always watched them with her, whether she enjoyed them or not, just to spend some time with her.

"Finally, _The O.C._ I can't _believe_ I just sat through _Gilmore Girls_," Rusty mumbled.

"The _Dawson's Creek_ one is the best, but this is a close second. Did you ever finish it?" Emily had made him start watching _The O.C._ several months before.

"Yeah, but I didn't love the last two seasons."

"The first two were the best," Emily agreed.

The brief beeping of the alarm system indicated that Andy had arrived, and Sharon turned around as he walked into the kitchen. "There are a few slices of vegetarian for you."

"Thanks, I'm starving." Andy leaned over the couch and kissed Sharon before changing clothes and getting some pizza for himself.

A couple of hours later, Sharon tossed the empty pizza boxes in the garbage and gave the kitchen and living room one last glance-over. She'd always preferred to leave a clean house when she went out of town. After double-checking her luggage and putting what she could in the car, she said goodnight to Emily and Rusty. "You guys don't stay up too late. We need to leave here by 7:30 in the morning. And—"

"Put your bags in the car," Emily and Rusty finished for her.

"Not all of us pack a bag per day, Mom," Rusty pointed out.

"I don't take _that_ much. And we'll be running around in the morning, trying to get out of here—"

"_Okay_, Mom, we know," Emily interrupted. "Your husband's the one you should be harassing about that."

Rusty rolled his eyes. "She acts like Andy's not always the one we have to wait for. He can be such a girl."

"_Okay_. Goodnight, darlings." Sharon kissed both children on the forehead and went to get ready for bed.

Andy was reading in bed when Sharon finished up in the bathroom and climbed in beside him. "Did you finish packing?"

Andy shrugged. "For the most part. I'll finish in the morning."

Sharon eyed him as she reached over to her nightstand and felt around for her rosary beads. "We need to leave by 7:15," she warned.

"I know, I know, but I'm beat. I'll be ready, I promise." Andy kissed her and stretched out under the covers. "Love you."

"Love you." Sharon absently stroked her fingers back and forth over his shoulder for a few moments before turning back to her rosary.

The next morning, Rusty, Emily, and Marie were in the kitchen by 7:25. Sharon took Marie from Emily when she reached for her before calling for her annoyingly slow-moving husband. "Andy, come _on_! If we—"

"Left now, we'd be late!" Emily and Rusty said, joining her in one of her favorite lines.

"It's 7:25 in the _kitchen_! Come on!" In the land before cell phones being attached to people's hands, Sharon had always set every clock in the house a few minutes fast except for the ones in the kitchen. Running late from any other room could've meant still being on time, but being late according to the kitchen timepieces was serious. Not that they were running late yet, but Andy didn't know that. He hadn't even looked at their tickets and didn't know exactly what time their flight was leaving.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Andy appeared a few moments later with his bag in his hand.

"Ba!" Marie grinned and held her arms out to him.

"Aww, there's Papa's girl. I'm glad _someone's_ happy to see me this morning." Andy pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

Sharon raised her eyebrows. "I'm happy to see you, too, but I'd be happier if you had been ready when you said you'd be."

Rusty looked at the clock on the stove, confused. "Wait, Mom, it's only seven-twenty—"

"Shhhh!" Sharon hissed.

"But you said—"

Sharon elbowed him in the side, silently pleading for him to take a hint. And regretting not filling him in on the 'give Andy an earlier departure time than everyone else' ploy.

It didn't take Andy long to connect the dots. "Wait, did you tell me we had to leave earlier than you told them?!"

Sharon gave him a wry smile. "Sorry, honey, but that's the only way I could think of to actually leave on time, for once."

"Oh yeah? I'll get you for that," Andy warned in an empty threat.

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I'm terrified. Let's go."

A few hours later, Sharon startled awake when she heard the pilot announcing that they'd be landing soon. Groaning softly into Andy's chest, she tried to rub her eyes and was confused when her left arm felt heavy. She opened her eyes and saw that Rusty was the culprit, passed out on her shoulder, so she gently shook him awake. "Wake up, honey," she murmured. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Whose bright idea was it to leave so damn early?" He whined.

Sharon looked behind them at Emily. Marie was calm and just looking around. "Sorry, Em, I meant to help you with her if I needed to."

Emily shook her head. "She's barely moved. She's been fascinated just by watching everyone."

With the holiday crowd, it took a while to get their luggage and rental car, but they arrived at Sharon's parents' house a while later. Sharon could smell lunch cooking before she even got inside, and she practically ran into her dad's arms first. The volume level rose considerably as everyone hugged and started chatting. William, Beth, Lauren, and Claire were already there, as they lived nearby, and the rest of the family would be arriving intermittently in the next couple of days. Between Sharon's parents, her brother and sister-in-law, and her niece, all of the out-of-towners were covered for lodging.

"I cracked up at your text about Claire the other day," Sharon heard Emily tell Lauren a couple of minutes later.

"What?" Sharon asked, turning away from her mom.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Chris took her to kindergarten one morning last week, and her teacher had lit a cinnamon-scented candle. She looked at her teacher and said, 'why does it smell like Fireball in here?' They probably think we're alcoholics."

Sharon laughed. "That sounds like something Emily would've done."

Lauren shrugged. "If I weren't just tapped out by now, then that would've been embarrassing."

**MCMCMCMCMC**

Sharon didn't know what time it was on Thanksgiving morning when Andy started nudging her from behind, but she knew it was too early for her liking. "_What_?" She mumbled, burrowing under the covers and trying to hold on to sleep.

"Just wanted to tell you Happy Anniversary. My mistake."

Sharon rolled over to face him. "Sorry. Happy Anniversary, darling."

Andy pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's all right. I love how ornery you are first thing in the morning. It's cute."

Sharon tried to glare at him, but she couldn't help it as her tight-lipped frown dissolved into a smile. She moved closer and kissed him while slipping her feet between his legs. "And how I put my cold feet on you?"

"No, I love you in _spite_ of that." Andy moved his lips to her neck. He knew he wouldn't get anywhere, but he was going to try. "Come on, Shar, it's our anniversary."

Sharon placed a restraining hand against his chest. "That worked Saturday night, you can't use it again. And I have children next door, across the hall, and parents downstairs. I don't care how old I am, it's weird."

"Oh, all right," Andy muttered, sounding much like a child.

Sharon put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him again. "I'll reward you when we get home," she murmured.

Andy brightened at the prospect. "Deal."

"Get some rest, the O'Dwyer brood will be in full force soon."

Andy sighed dramatically. "It's our anniversary, and you've cut me off. I'm not exactly feeling restful."

"Good, because neither am I. Misery loves company." Sharon sighed contentedly when she heard the heat kick on, warm and cozy in her familiar old bedroom, wrapped in Andy's arms for several minutes before giving in to the morning. Andy had fallen back asleep, but she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a cardigan before brushing her teeth and tying her hair up. She could smell coffee before she got to the kitchen, and her mom and dad were already up. Stifling a yawn, she was able to find her way to the cabinet that had held the coffee mugs since she was a child with her eyes barely open.

"Morning, baby," Bill greeted as she poured her coffee.

"Morning, you guys." Sharon sipped her coffee and looked out the window at the foggy morning.

"Did you and Andy sleep okay?" Marie asked. "I'm so glad you guys are here."

Sharon nodded. "That mattress upstairs is great. I'm glad we decided to do Thanksgiving here, too. It's been a long time since I've been here for it." After a couple of mugs of coffee, she ironed her mom's best tablecloth and helped her get it on the dining room table. Once the candles and flowers were in place, she started peeling a mountain of potatoes while Marie started on the stuffing. The rest of her family made their way downstairs in the next couple of hours, and Emily, Ricky, and Rusty alternated between grumbling about peeling potatoes and taking shifts entertaining Marie while Emmett and Andy worked on their own contributions to the meal.

William arrived with the turkey at 10:00, and most of the rest of the family had assembled by then, as well. With the first shift of dishes in the oven, the women sprawled around the living room while the men moved outside to the porch. With mimosas in hand for most of the group, the conversation turned to Sharon's and Andy's anniversary and memories from their wedding. Of course, Kate had to start with how Sharon had answered "Yes!" loudly enough to wake the dead before the priest had even stopped speaking during their vows. There had only been polite laughter until Kate laughed so hard she snorted, which had set off the rest of the bridal party.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if _somebody_ hadn't snorted," Sharon managed to say through her laughter.

"If you could've seen the look on your face when you realized you'd interrupted the priest and how loudly you'd spoken, and not even with the right response, you would've been even worse," Kate countered.

"Yeah, and Mom was giving all of us death glares to calm the hell down, like we could do anything to help it," Emily added. "I couldn't have stopped laughing for anything."

It hadn't seemed so funny at the time, but Sharon laughed until she was wiping tears from her eyes at the image of her row of bridesmaids giggling helplessly into their bouquets, trying in vain to compose themselves.

"Andy had to be the best," Beth spoke up. "I thought I'd missed something when I saw him leaning closer to you until I heard Father Stan say 'never mind, giving you permission to kiss the bride is outdated, anyway.' And then you jumped and kind of squeaked because you weren't expecting it. My god, you'd think neither of you had gotten married before."

Sharon didn't know if Andy had gotten flustered or what, but he'd unexpectedly started kissing her a bit prematurely at the end. "Everyone _still_ gives him hell about that. I was just so relieved that the ceremony was over, I didn't really care. My face is beet red in the pictures where we're walking up the aisle! Andy was holding my arm so tightly, probably afraid I was just going to start running to get out of there."

"You were definitely a flight risk," Andy called from the kitchen, where he and Ricky were getting tea and coffee.

The pitcher of mimosas was empty, so Kate got up to make another batch. "Whoa, Aunt Kate, you're a little too close to the stove," Ricky said with mock horror. Kate was notorious for her lack of cooking skills.

"I'm making more mimosas, genius. Which I am highly qualified for."

Ricky shrugged. "No arguments, here."

When all of the dinner preparations were done, Sharon went upstairs to get dressed. She'd showered earlier that morning, so she blowdried her hair for a few minutes before working her curling iron through it. By the time she'd applied makeup and changed into a gray skirt and lilac sweater, Andy was stepping out of the shower. She removed the amethyst necklace he had given her for their anniversary when they went out for dinner the night before from its case. "Will you fasten this for me, please?"

"Sure." Andy gathered her hair in his hands and draped it over one of her shoulders before securing the clasp.

Sharon looped her arm around Andy's waist as she admired the necklace in the mirror. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Andy brushed his lips against her temple. "I can't think of a more fitting day for our anniversary."

"It's perfect," Sharon agreed.

Dinner was ready by 1:30, and the older generation was seated in the dining room, while the younger crowd was banished to the kitchen. "I'm trying to remember the last time I was here for Thanksgiving," Sharon commented, looking around the table at her parents, siblings, and their spouses. "William and Beth hadn't even been dating long enough to share holidays yet." Between unsteady work hours and the financial burden of traveling for two holidays so close together, Thanksgiving had quickly become one to spend with friends for her and Jack. "The kids' table has _definitely_ grown since then."

"Mo-om, we're adults!" Ricky whined from the kitchen.

"Good, so I can ignore you next time you text me for my Netflix password?" Sharon called back.

"Never mind."

With the exception of James and Emmett, the women with children, regardless of age, were the first ones to finish eating. "You can always tell which partner looked after the children more," Marie commented as they started cleaning up. "The 'if you don't eat fast, you don't eat' reality of having small kids is a permanent habit."

"Especially when they outgrew the high chair and were no longer confined," Sharon agreed. "God, Ricky could go from the kitchen table to trouble in three seconds flat."

Everyone else gradually finished eating, and once the kitchen was clean and the dishwasher was humming, Sharon realized she was going to fall asleep if she didn't get some fresh air. Most of the others seemed to have the same idea, although a couple of the adults had slipped off to take naps with the toddlers. It was sunny outside, and with blankets and the outdoor heater, the porch was fairly pleasant. Sharon curled up in a chair beside Andy and lay on his chest. Comfortably full and warm, even the fresh air might not be able to keep her from falling asleep. She drifted into a light doze until Marie and Carter (Sharons nephew's 2 year old) were up from their naps, and their high-pitched squealing and laughter as they played with various family members on the porch roused her. Emily and Maggie (Sharon's niece) were coming outside with mugs in their hands of something Sharon suspected wasn't non-alcoholic. "What are you drinking?"

"Ricky's gracious contribution to the meal," Maggie answered. "Keurig apple cider and Fireball."

Emily handed her the other mug that was in her hand. "I knew you'd want some."

"Thanks, honey." Sharon took the mug from her and wrapped her hands around its warmth. A little while later, she went inside to change into warmer and more comfortable clothes. Almost everyone had filtered inside by the time she got back downstairs, and her dad was the last one on the porch when she went outside with a glass of wine. He was lighting a cigar and looked up at her with a guilty expression, not expecting anyone to come back out.

"_Dad_," Sharon lightly chastised.

"Honey, please. I'm 86 years old. If one of these every now and then were going to kill me, they would've done so by now."

"I guess you're right."

"And I guess you'll be ratting me out to your mother?"

Sharon shook her head. "You might need a new prescription for your glasses. William's the snitch, not me." She moved her chair closer to the heater and got comfortable under her blanket. It was 4:30, and the sun was starting to go down. Carter was banging on the door, wanting to come outside, so Sharon opened the door and let him out. After talking to her dad until the red, orange, and purple streaks across the back yard faded into darkness, she lifted Carter into her arms and followed Bill inside.

Marie spotted Sharon with Carter in her arms and wasn't happy. "Ga!" She protested, toddling over to her and whining with her arms held up to her.

"Girl. You are rotten." Sharon put Carter down and scooped up Marie. Now that Sharon wasn't holding Carter, Marie was disinterested and struggled to get down. "Oh, you don't want me to hold you, you just don't want me holding Carter?" Marie gave her a look like that should've been obvious. "You are too funny."

A couple of hours later, everyone was still too full to eat much more than turkey sandwiches or small plates of sides from lunch's leftovers. Sharon sat on the hearth by the gas logs with her sandwich, enjoying the warmth, loud chatter in the living room, and the Christmas music playing in the background. Andy came in from the kitchen with his own plate and looked around for somewhere to sit. Sharon caught his eye and patted the space next to her on the hearth. "Come sit by the fireplace with me."

"Gladly." Andy sat beside her, and they ate in comfortable silence amid the lively conversations going on around them. When they were finished eating and pushed their plates aside, Sharon entwined her arm with Andy's and lay on his shoulder. _White Christmas_ by Otis Redding was playing, and she let out a contented sigh as she looked around the room.

"What?" Andy asked, catching her dreamy expression.

"Nothing." Sharon looked at her buzzing phone and tapped out a response to the 'Happy Thanksgiving' group text that had been ongoing with a few of her close friends since that morning. "Just thinking that there's a lot to be thankful for."

"Oh yeah?" Andy wrapped his arm around her and held her more closely to him. "Like what?"

"A large and healthy family, good friends, and a hot as hell husband."

**I know a lot of you don't like the idea of Sharon having a family and friends for some reason (as evidenced by 8 rude reviews I deleted from my last story), but it's hard to write about Thanksgiving without including one or the other. It's okay to politely let me know what you didn't like or just not say anything if this isn't your cup of tea :)**

**Hope y'all liked it, thanks for reading!**


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